Method for treating yarn

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for drawing and texturizing yarn in a continuous operation is described. Useful in a conventional drawing and texturizing operation wherein the yarn is passed through a drawing zone, a heating zone, and a false twisting zone to obtain drawn yarn having stretch characteristics. The improvement of this invention provides feeding and drawing means in the drawing zone which are synchronized to be engaged or disengaged simultaneously. This may be accomplished through the use of a connecting shaft and cam system which causes draw rolls and feed rolls to be simultaneously engaged and disengaged. This unique system allows an operator to &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;thread up&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; the entire apparatus prior to simultaneously initiating the operation.

United States Patent [1 1 Lusk et a1.

[ METHOD FOR TREATING YARN [73] Assignee: Beaunit Corporation, New York,

[22] Filed: Mar. 30, 1971 [21] App1.No.: 129,512

[52] 11.8. C1 ..57/34 HS, 57/83 [51] Int. Cl. ..D02g 1/02, DOlh 1/28 [58] Field of Search ..57/1, 34 R, 34 HS,

57/36, 37, 51, 51.4, 51.5, 54, 55.5, 61, 78, 83, 84, 90,157 TS, 157 MS, 157 R [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,790,298 4/1957 Kunzle ..57/28 X 2,623,346 12/1952 Lohfert et al ..57/83 X 51 May 1, 1973 Attorney -Donald E. Gillespie and James H. Ewing I 5 7 ABSTRACT A method and apparatus for drawing and texturizing yarn in a continuous operation is described. Useful in a conventional drawing and texturizing operation wherein the yarn is passed through a drawing zone, a heating zone, and a false twisting zone to obtain drawn yarn having stretch characteristics. The improvement of this invention provides feeding and drawing means in the drawing zone which are synchronized to be engaged or disengaged simultaneously. This may be accomplished through the use of a connecting shaft and cam system which causes draw rolls and feed rolls to be simultaneously engaged and disengaged. This unique system allows an operator to thread up the entire apparatus prior to simultaneously initiating the operation.

2 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures Patented Ma 1,1973 3,729,916

2 sheets-sheet 1 INVENTORJ HAROLD B. LUSK BY HERBERT E. COOKE LEON D. PRYOR Patented May 1, 1973 3,729,916

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. HAROLD B. ,LUSK BY HERBERTE. COQKE LEON D PRYOR METHOD FOR TREATING YARN BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION l. Field of the Invention This invention is directed to the treatment of yarn. More particularly, the invention is directed to a method of, and apparatus for, drawing and texturizing yarn in a continuous operation.

2. Description of the Prior Art Various processes and machines are known for treating yarn to impart stretch characteristics thereto including US. Pat. Nos. 2,803,105; 2,803,108; 2,803,109; and 2,831,376 to Stoddard et al.; US. Pat. No. 3,152,436 to Dudzik et al.; and US. Pat. No. 3,541,775 to Fisher. The techniques employed in the mentioned patents provide for heating drawn yarn and thereafter feeding the heated yarn through a false twist spindle where twist characteristics are applied to the heated yarn, resulting in stretch yarn characterized by crimped or coil-like configurations. Such procedures are well known.

In these prior techniques, it is necessary to subject the yarn to a prior drawing operation before treating the yarn to impart stretch characteristics thereto. This additional separate processing step is undesirable in that it is time consuming and less economical. Certain processes have been proposed in which drawing and texturizing have been carried out in a continuous operation including US. Pat. No. 2,890,568 to Willens in which a draw zone consisting of feed rolls and draw rolls operating in the normal manner is simply placed between the yarn supply andthe heating zone. However, this type of operation has been found .to be unsatisfactory. The yarn tends to be overfed into the draw zone and can easily become entangled before the draw rolls can take up the slack. It is also desirable with equipment of this type to thread up the equipment prior to beginning operation thereof. In order to proceed in this manner, it is necessary that the feed rolls and draw rolls be synchronized and engaged or disengaged simultaneously in order to obtain proper drawing of the yarn.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION I It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for drawing and texturizing yarn.

It is another object of this invention to provide a method for drawing and texturizing yarn in a continuous operation.

It is another object of this invention to provide a method and apparatus for drawing and texturizing yarn in a continuous operation wherein the feedingrmeans yarn having stretch therewith or thereafter rolls 13 and ing means which are synchronized to be engaged or disengaged simultaneously to provide proper drawing of the yarn and proper feeding of the drawn yarn into the heating zone. This is accomplished through the use of a connecting shaft and cam system which causes draw rolls and feed rolls to be simultaneously engaged and disengaged. The unique system of this invention allows the operator to thread up the drawing and texturizing apparatus prior to simultaneously initiating the drawing and feeding means used in the drawing operation.

The nature of the invention will be more fully apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments exemplified in the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic side elevation showing the layout of one form of apparatus suitable for carrying out the invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic side elevation showing the drawing operation of FIG. 1 in detail wherein the feed and draw mechanism is disengaged.

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic side elevation showing the drawing operation of FIG. 1 in detail wherein the feed and draw mechanism is engaged.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A detailed description of the present invention follows with reference to FIG. 1 in general and to FIGS. 2 and 3 in detail. It is to be understood that the type and arrangement of apparatus and the like may be varied for the purpose of carrying out this invention. The particular arrangement as shownin FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 are preferred.

In FIG. 1, a continuous filament yarn l l is fed from a supply package 10 through a guide 12 to feed rolls l4, l3 and 15. Rolls 13 and 15 are driven and floating roll 14 may be positioned to engage or disengage rolls l3 and 15. Although two rolls 13 and. 15 are shown and preferred, the operation of this invention could proceed using only a single roll instead of two rolls as shown. The yarn 11 passes from roll 15 through a drawing zone which may optionally contain a draw pin, plate or the like shown generally at 21, which may be heated. The yarn then passes to draw rolls 26, 27 and 28. Roll 28 is driven and Casablanca rolls 26 and 27 may be positioned to engage or disengage roll 28. Yarn l1 rides against rolls 26 and 27 when disengaged as shown in FIG. 2. When rolls 26 and 27 engage roll 28, the yarn passes through heating zone 29. This, heating. zone preferably consists of a heater equipped with heater grooves as is well known in the art. The yarn is positioned in alignment with the heater grooves so that the yarn may be threaded up out of contact with the heater and placed into contact with the heater grooves by the movement ofrolls 26 and 27 into contact with driven roll 28. The yarn 11 is passed from the heated zone through false twist spindle 30 to forwarding rolls 31 to a conventional takeup shown at 32 and 33. Driven roll 33 is independently moved into position to drive takeup 32 by means such as arm 34 or the like. Simultaneously l5 engage roll 14 and rolls 26 and 27 engage roll 28.

As pointed out above, feed roll 14 and draw rolls 26 and 27 may besimultaneously engaged or disengaged with driven rolls l3 and 15 and draw roll 28 respectively in order that the entire'operation may be threaded up prior to initiating the draw texturizing operation. Rolls 26 and 27 are activated by means of peddle 25. When these rolls are activated and moved into contact with roll 28, roll 14 automatically engages rolls 13 and 15 due to the action of shaft 22 and cam 20. Shaft 22 and cam 20 are connected to peddle 25 through rocker arm 24 and bracket 23. When rolls 26 and 27 are engaged with roll 28, shaft 22 is displaced to the left by connection through rocker arm 24, which pivots about pin 24', and linkage 23 causing roller 19 to ride down on the face of cam 20. The weight of roll 14 causes L-shaped bracket 18 to pivot about pin 18', thus lowering roll 14 into contact with driven rolls l3 and 15. When such contact is made, yarn feed will commence. A weight 16 of up to or more pounds may optionally be connected to roll 14 through bracket 17 to increase the pressure of roll 14 against rolls l3 and and thus prevent possible slippage of the yarn at this point of contact.

When rolls 26 and 27 are disengaged from contact with roll 28, shaft 22 moves to the right through the action of peddle 25 and rocker arm 24. As shaft 22 moves to the right, roller 19 rides up on cam 20 causing roll 14 to be raised through the pivotal action of L-bracket 18. This simultaneous engaging and disengaging of roll 14 and Casablanca rolls 26 and 27 is shown in detail in FIGS. 2 and 3.

FIG. 2 shows the position of roll 14 and rolls 26 and 27 when disengaged and FIG. 3 shows the position of roll 14 and rolls 26 and 27 when engaged.

With reference to FIGS. 2 and 3 it is seen that when peddle is activated, rocker arm 24 moves in an arc to cause Casablanca rolls 26 and 27 to engage drive roll 28. The mechanism involved is known in the art and does not form part of this invention. Such peddle and rocker arm action may be found on any Leesona No. 553 stretch yarn machine or Leesona No. 555 stretch yarn machine, available commercially from Leesona Corporation of Warwick, Rhode Island. Leesona Corp. publications Catalog No. 555-S-2-5246 and Catalog No. 555-P-2-5254, pages 20 and 22 show the mechanism of this arrangement. When rocker arm 24 moves to cause engagement of rolls 26 and 27 with drive roll 28, shaft 22, connected to rocker arm 24 through bracket 23, moves with the rocker arm and causes feed roll 14 to engage rolls l3 and 15 due to the action of cam 20 on roll 19 which is connected to floating roll 14 through L-bracket 18. Shaft 22 is, of course slidably supported by any well known bearing means (not shown).

When peddle 25 is released, its lower end moves down forcing rocker arm 24 up, disengaging Casablanca rolls 26 and 27 and causing shaft 22 and cam 20 to move to the right as shown in FIG. 2. Cam 20 moves under roller 19 causing floating roll 14 to move upward so as to disengage from contact with driven rolls 13 and 15 through the pivotal movement of L-bracket 18.

The use of the method and apparatus of this invention provides a convenientand economical method for drawing and texturizing yarn in a continuous operation. Using the method of this invention allows the apparatus to be threaded up and then the drawing, heating and twisting of the yarn may be initiated after thread up by the engagement of roll 14 with rolls 13 and 15, rolls 26 and 27 with roll 28, and roll 33 with take-up 32. In the drawing operation, which is unique to this invention, it is critical that drawing pressure be applied by Casablanca rolls 26 and 27 and floating roll 14 simultaneously. The method and apparatus of this invention provides a unique and novel way of applying the necessary drawing pressure.

The invention is applicable to yarns generally, including staple fiber yarns, but is particularly applicable to continuous filament yarns, e.g. of wholly synthetic materials such as polyamides, polyesters, polyolefins,

and the like; of regenerated cellulose as in viscose rayon and cuprammonium rayon; and of cellulose acetate or other organic derivatives of cellulose. The invention is particularly applicable to continuous filament yarns of polyamides, such as polyhexamethylene adipamide, polycaprolactam, and the like and of polyesters, such as-polyethylene terephthalate and the like.

The drawing of the yarn may be either a cold-draw or hot-draw as is well known in the art. The yarn may be given a degree of drawing of the order of 3 to 5 or more times depending upon the nature of the material. It has been found that a draw ratio of about 3:1 is preferred for polyhexamethylene adipamide yarns and a draw ratio of about 5:1 is preferred for polyethylene terephthalate yarns.

From the drawing zone, the drawn yarn is fed into a heating zone as is well known in the art. As shown in FIG. 1, the drawn yarn passes from the drawing zone to the heating zone 29. The yarn rides on rolls 26 and 27 which provide tension to the yarn and allow the yarn to be threaded up in alignment with a groove in the heater so that, upon operation, the yarn may be moved into contact with the heater groove. The temperature of the heater or heating zone is regulated to the temperature at which the yarn is desired to be processed with the length of the heater or heating zone enabling the yarn to reach equilibrium temperature with the heater or heating zone as it travels thereover or therethrough. The temperature of the heater is maintained uniformly at a point below the temperature at which the yarn melts. Contact heaters are preferred for the purposes of this invention although other types of heaters and/or heating methods may be used if desired. As is well known in the art, the heated zone is correlated to the linear travel of the yarn to supply sufficient heat thereto to effect the proper yarn setting which reorients the molecules of the yarn in the twisted formulation obtained in the twisting zone to produce the crimped or coil-like configuration characteristic of textured or stretch yarn. If necessary to impart the desired characteristics to the yarn, additional heaters or heating zones may be used.

The drawn, heated yarn is then passed to the false twist spindle, shown at 30 in FIG. 1, where twist characteristics are applied to the yarn. False twist spindles useful for the purposes of this invention are well known in mean and are of the type in which the yarn passes'through 'a hollow and rapidly rotating spindle provided with means for guiding the yarn through several sharp changes of direction. False twist spindles of the type convenient for use herein are fully described in the art as shown in US. Pat. No. 3,044,226 to Hilbert and US. Pat. No. 3,074,226 to Hilbert.

The yam passes from the false twist zone to forwarding rolls 31 and to a conventional take-up device shown at 32 and 33. During operation, the take-up speed is equal to or greater than the speed of driven roll 28. After thread-up, driven roll 33is moved into contact with take-up 32 to start the operation.

It is to be understood that changes and variations may be made in the present invention by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope thereof asdefined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a machine for treating yarn including disengageable feed rolls, draw rolls and take-up rolls, and a heating device and a false twisting device the improvement comprising disengageable feed roll means for accepting filament yarn from a source of supply;

means for driving said draw rolls at a speed substantially faster than said feed rolls means, and

means for substantially simultaneously engaging said coupling between said pedal and said bracket member 7 comprises a rocker arm connected to and activated by the movement of said pedal to engage or disengage said draw rolls;

a bracket connected to and activated by the movement of said rocker arm;

a shaft connected to and activated by the movement of said bracket;

a cam attached to and activated by the movement of said shaft, and

a roller riding on said cam and connected to said bracket member and activating said bracket member to engage or disengage said feed roll means in response to the movement of said pedal. 

1. In a machine for treating yarn including disengageable feed rolls, draw rolls and take-up rolls, and a heating device and a false twisting device the improvement comprising disengageable feed roll means for accepting filament yarn from a source of supply; means for driving said draw rolls at a speed substantially faster than said feed rolls means, and means for substantially simultaneously engaging said feed roll means and said driving means comprising a pedal for engaging said draw rolls; a pivoted bracket member for engaging said feed roll means, and a mechanical coupling between said pedal and said bracket member.
 2. The machine of claim 1 wherein said mechanical coupling between said pedal and said bracket member comprises a rocker arm conneCted to and activated by the movement of said pedal to engage or disengage said draw rolls; a bracket connected to and activated by the movement of said rocker arm; a shaft connected to and activated by the movement of said bracket; a cam attached to and activated by the movement of said shaft, and a roller riding on said cam and connected to said bracket member and activating said bracket member to engage or disengage said feed roll means in response to the movement of said pedal. 